4 ms·

A thought occurred to me the other day. What if it's not so good to "be one with the bicycle" ? What I mean is, I feel the narrator identifies too strongly wi

by arh68 9y ago

A thought occurred to me the other day. What if it's not so good to "be one with the bicycle" ? What I mean is, I feel the narrator identifies too strongly with the machine. The frustrations of the machine translate directly to him, leading to crap avoiding gumption traps. Like composition v. inheritance, you don't always want to become the thing, you just want to use it. It's dangerous to become a thing, especially one without any Quality. Maybe I resonate more strongly now with the BMW driver. I don't know. Maybe I didn't really understand the book.

ruleabidinguser 9y ago
>. It's dangerous to become a thing, Why?
philtar 9y ago
What you missed, is that you do not become the thing, you already are the thing. You just need to realize it.
ep103 9y ago
Because it isn't about the bicycle. What are you doing, right now? (Besides posting on the internet). What are you working towards? That's the bicycle. And if you are spending your time working on it or towards it, then that means it is something you value. And if it is something you value, then "becoming one with it" as you put it, will allow you to both do better at the task/goal, as well as reap a more rewarding experience from pursuing that task/goal. You could take the opposite approach, and not truly value any thing that you do, but I a) am not sure that could be rewarding and b) am not sure that is possible. As DFW said, everybody worships something, whether they know it or not. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI) So the book takes the opposite perspective. It says, well, whatever you are working on is what you value. Whatever you spend your time on is what you value. And if you can remember to truly embrace the things you value, or conversely, ensure you spend your time pursuing the things you truly value, then your experiences towards those topics/goals/tasks will be more rewarding and as a result, your life can be more enriching as well.

by arh68 9y ago

ruleabidinguser 9y ago

>. It's dangerous to become a thing, Why?

philtar 9y ago

What you missed, is that you do not become the thing, you already are the thing. You just need to realize it.

ep103 9y ago

Because it isn't about the bicycle. What are you doing, right now? (Besides posting on the internet). What are you working towards? That's the bicycle. And if you are spending your time working on it or towards it, then that means it is something you value. And if it is something you value, then "becoming one with it" as you put it, will allow you to both do better at the task/goal, as well as reap a more rewarding experience from pursuing that task/goal. You could take the opposite approach, and not truly value any thing that you do, but I a) am not sure that could be rewarding and b) am not sure that is possible. As DFW said, everybody worships something, whether they know it or not. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI) So the book takes the opposite perspective. It says, well, whatever you are working on is what you value. Whatever you spend your time on is what you value. And if you can remember to truly embrace the things you value, or conversely, ensure you spend your time pursuing the things you truly value, then your experiences towards those topics/goals/tasks will be more rewarding and as a result, your life can be more enriching as well.